Mary McCaslin's Roundup
Mar 16, 2006
Every birthday should be special,
and this year singer-songwriter Ginny Mitchell has something very special to
add to the celebration mix. This coming Saturday is not only Ginny's birthday,
it's the release date of her new CD, "Just to Hear Your Voice". She
will be celebrating with a concert Saturday night at the Digital Media Factory
in the old Wrigley building on the west side of Santa Cruz.
Co-produced by Ginny and drummer
extraordinaire Jim Norris, this CD features two of her originals, "Miss
You Boy" and the lovely "Ed and Alice". The rest of the songs
are covers of favorites. Featured are her stunning versions of Don Henley's
"Heart of the Matter" and the Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little
Helper", the latter done in a full-on Bluegrass arrangement. Also included
are soft jazz versions of "When You Wish Upon a Star" and
"Stardust", along with some country / rock, Americana, folk and a
gospel selection. Of these "Shine", "Straight to You" and
"Sanctuary" stand out.
"Just to Hear Your Voice"
is Ginny's second CD. Her first, "Wild Rose", was a collection of
singles that she had recorded over the previous years before its release in
1993. It was mostly recorded in Nashville and was produced by bassist and banjo
player Mark Schatz, who has worked with Tim and Mollie O'Brien, made a solo
banjo CD and is now with Nickel Creek. The title cut was recorded locally at
Mars studio and featured an up and coming young bluegrass musician named Alison
Krauss on fiddle. She was touring through the area in a band with Schatz.
Ginny Mitchell was born in Berkeley
and lived in Orinda until the deaths of both parents, a few months apart from
each other. From Orinda she and her brother and sister moved to Santa Cruz to
live with her uncle and aunt Al and Ruth Mitchell. Ginny had always sung, in
church choirs and at school, and took up the guitar somewhere around the age of
12 or 13. She attended Santa Cruz High School, studying music with beloved
teacher Bill Wright. There she became friends with classmate and budding
guitarist Steve Palazzo, who she taught how to play a D chord. Steve has gone
on to become a well-respected bluegrass flatpicker and fingerstyle player with
recordings of his own and with bluegrass band Homefire.
After high school Ginny studied
music at Cabrillo College, taking Ray Brown's legendary jazz improv class. She
became the first vocalist to finish the class and she went on to receive her
Associate of Arts degree in music at Cabrillo.
She then married and moved to
Canada, taking up residence in the town of Sickamous, British Columbia. While
living there Ginny and her husband Tim started a concert production company
called Starlite Productions. She began to make a name for herself as a singer,
and in 1986 was given the Best New Artist award by the Canadian Country Music
Association. She was also nominated for a Juno award, which is the Canadian
version of our Grammy.
After a few years Ginny and Tim
moved back to the Santa Cruz area. She formed a band with Canadian country
guitarist Red Volkart, who she had met in Canada and who now works with Merle
Haggard. Other band members included Santa Cruz musicians Bill Laymon on bass
and Slippery John Weston on pedal steel. Around this time the marriage broke
up. As part of the healing process she became involved with Sean Seman's Young
at Heart, singing for the elderly residents of convalescent homes, and joined
the Mt. Madonna Choir.
Destiny stepped in when she happened to meet a
filmmaker named Marty Collins, who became the director for her “Wild Rose”
music video. At the time he had a production company in San Jose called, of all
things, Starlite Productions. They married in 2001.
Ginny’s friend, singer Lacy J. Dalton, did a cameo
on the video as a waitress. The next year it won an award from IUMA and TechTV.
In the late
1990s Ginny and Marty went to Virginia City, Nevada to film Lacy’s "Wild
Horse Crossing" CD release concert. Ginny had done some harmony singing on
the recording and was aware of Lacy's efforts to save a herd of wild horses
near her Virginia City home.
While visiting they learned more
about the dire situation of the wild horses of Storey County and the idea for a
documentary was born. Out of this idea came the Girls from Santa Cruz concert,
which was presented and video taped at the Santa Cruz High School auditorium in
June of 2002. A Girls From Santa Cruz CD and DVD, with footage of the wild
horses and interviews, followed.
Last year after Hurricane Katrina
hit Mitchell / Collins Productions put together a grand benefit concert called
the Katrina-thon. It took place on October 9th at the Digital Media Factory and
was also video taped. There was a huge line-up of musicians and singers, all
donating their performances to raise money for those whose homes were in the
path of the hurricane. There were even some four-legged refugees from that
devastated area on hand out in front of the building for a “meet and greet”.
This coming Saturday night Ginny,
who was honored in 2005 with a Gail Rich Award, will be accompanied by some of
the finest musicians available anywhere. Included in the band will be Jim Lewin
and Yuji Tojo on guitar, Deby Benton-Grosjean on violin, Jay Jackson on piano,
Tiran Porter on bass and Jim Norris on drums. On one song Ginny’s brother Bill
will be playing guitar. She will be singing a selection of favorites in her
rich, beautiful voice. And a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Happy Trails!
Mary
McCaslin will be playing at Don Quixote’s in Felton on March 23rd
and at the Espresso Garden Café in San Jose on March 31st. Email her
at roundup@marymccaslin.com
IF
YOU GO
What:
Ginny Mitchell CD release and birthday celebration.
When:
7 p.m. Saturday, March 18.
Where:
Digital Media Factory, 2809 Mission St., Santa Cruz.
Cost:
$10 advance, $12 at the door.
Details:
427-2941